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28 Things You Never Knew About The Marvel Universe

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes over the real universe, we decided to take a look at some aspects of the Marvel World you may not be familiar with. How many of these facts did you know?
1. When Robert Downey Jr. was in high school, he was once suspended for tearing a classmate's comic book to pieces and calling him a "nerd." The comic book? The Invincible Iron Man.
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2. Famous loner Wolverine has actually been on more super teams than any other Marvel character.
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3. It was revealed in the 1980s that Peter Parker, Spider-Man's secret identity, grew up at 20 Ingram Street in Forest Hills, Queens.
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That address, in real life, has been owned by an actual Parker family since 1974.
4. Vin Diesel recorded all his "I am Groot" lines over 1,000 times in multiple languages in order for his voice to fit the role around the world.
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He said "I am groot" in Russian, Spanish, Mandarin, Portuguese, German, and French, all while wearing stilts to get a feel for the character's height.
5. Iron Man's suit is made up of roughly 450 separate pieces.
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6. Natalia Romanova, also known as Black Widow, is still a super hottie thanks to a variation of the super-soldier serum.
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She's actually 70 years old though. Da-yum.
7. Chris Evans turned down the role of Captain America three times before the producers eventually convinced him to accept it.
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8. Mark Ruffalo had to leave to the premiere of The Avengers early because his four-year-old daughter was so terrified of her father's onscreen transformation into the Hulk. We don't blame her!
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9. For Thor: The Dark World, there were over 30 Mjölnirs (Thor's hammer) created.
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10. Michael Jackson tried to buy Marvel Comics in the early 90s. He was planning to produce and star in a Spider-Man movie that never happened. Wouldn't that be crazy?
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11. Deadpool originated as a spoof of DC Comic's Deathstroke. That's why Deadpool's real name, Wade Wilson, is so similar to Deathstroke's, Slade Wilson.
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12. A body double was used for Chris Evans in Captain America: The First Avenger for the scenes where he's skinny.
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Digital technology was utilized in order to erase Evans' body in order to create the allusion of a tiny, tiny version of the actor.
13. Red Skull, Captain America's nemesis, was created after Joe Simon noticed the cherry on his ice cream sundae resembled a skull. Such delicious beginnings for such an evil guy, no?
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14. The chemicals from the blue make-up used to transform Rebecca Romijn into Mystique caused her to yak blue vomit all over Hugh Jackman after taking a tequila shot.
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The celebrations on the final day of the first film were a little tainted by it.
15. In 1987, Spider-Man married Mary Jane. To coincide with the nuptials, Marvel held a press event featuring live-action versions of the characters getting married at Shea Stadium.
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16. Cyclops' eyes function as a portal to another dimension that generates the energy used for his optic blasts. He's also immune to his powers, which is why he doesn't blast his own eyelids off.
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17. Marvel evaded a law raising taxes on toys based on humans by claiming the X-Men toys were mutants, not humans. Clever, clever!
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18. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Falcon's flight gear has a Stark Industries logo on it.
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19. The Punisher was originally created as an adversary for Spider-Man before getting his own standalone comic in 1986.
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20. Believe it or not, the richest superhero is not the incredibly wealthy Tony Stark (Iron Man); it's actually Black Panther. He has 5 times Stark's fortune, $500 billion.
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21. When Stan Lee initially pitched Spider-Man, his publishers thought it would fail because nobody wants to see a teenage hero (and, obvi nobody likes spiders).
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The first issue quickly became one of Marvel's highest-selling comics.
22. Captain America is one of the few people able to use Iron Man's armor, Thor's hammer, and only one of two foreigners entrusted with the Black Panther's technology. No wonder everyone loves Captain America so much!
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23. Wolverine can literally sense when someone's lying. He can also super easily identify shape-shifters.
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24. Captain America's shield can only be damaged on a molecular level because it's made of an adamantium/vibranium alloy.
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25. For everyone heartbroken when Gwen Stacy died in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, prepare for more heartbreak.
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There was debate over whether she met her end at the hands of the Green Goblin throwing her off the bridge or if it was Spider-Man's fault. It was eventually revealed that Spidey's web stopped her so suddenly that she was killed by a whiplash effect. :(
26. The Incredible Hulk was not originally the green giant we've come to know and love. He started out grey, but due to ink problems in printing, we have our green guy.
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27. Venom was originally written as a female character.
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Writer David Michelle was forced by his editor to alter the character's gender because "readers wouldn't see the woman as a physical threat" to Spidey. Rude.
28. Robert Downey Jr. gave a seven-year-old boy born with a partially developed arm a prosthetic modeled after his character's super-powered gauntlets.
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This, along with the incredibly generous and kind behavior of Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Andrew Garfield, et al, help to make these Marvel actors real life superheroes. And for that, we love them.
h/t @MarvelousFacts

We’ve been warning you for weeks that s**t’s about to get crazy on Arrow, and here's your proof! In these first look photos from the season 1 finale, "Sacrifice," we see Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman) gloating alongside a chained-up Oliver (Stephen Amell), who's been de-hooded and de-shirted. What is going on?!
Thankfully, the muscle behind the vigilante, Amell, sat down with a small group of reporters to discuss the jam-packed, intense season finale of Arrow and to shine a little light on these spoilery photos. Turns out, Oliver’s secret won’t stay a secret much longer thanks to his arch enemy, Malcolm, a.k.a. The Dark Archer.
“I start the season finale chained up and left for dead,” Amell reveals. “I am chained up by Mr. Barrowman [aka Malcolm Merlyn]. Now, in the photos he is not wearing a mask and neither am I, although I don’t ever wear a mask. Everything is out in the open between us.”
You read that right: Malcolm and Oliver will learn the truth about each other, bow-and-arrow secrets and all. Needless to say, Ollie's got different attitude toward the elder Merlyn than he did in episode 16 when he encouraged his then-best friend Tommy (Colin Donnell) to give his father a chance.
"Oliver, we saw in Episode 16, actually encouraged Tommy to develop a relationship with his father. He doesn’t know anything about Malcolm Merlyn other than maybe he could be a better dad," Amell says. "He certainly doesn’t suspect anything to the effect of him being slightly evil, let alone the other archer."
Once Oliver learns Malcolm's other identity, some major drama will go down. "I think Oliver will support [Tommy working for Malcolm] because ultimately Oliver wants Tommy to be happy and he wants him to stand on his own," Amell adds. "Should he come to learn anything about Tommy’s father, he may feel differently."
That's an understatement, and not the only drama going down in the season finale. When "Sacrifice" shoots onto our TV screens on May 15, Oliver and Diggle (David Ramsey) race to stop the Dark Archer from unleashing his vengeance on The Glades. However, they run into a road block after Detective Lance (Paul Blackthorne) picks up Felicity for questioning. Tommy and Oliver’s already tumultuous relationship takes a turn for the worse after Oliver makes a confession about Laurel (Katie Cassidy). After hearing of the danger in The Glades, Thea (Willa Holland) races to find Roy (Colton Haynes), inadvertently putting herself directly in the line of fire of Malcolm’s devious plan. On the island, Oliver, Slade (Manu Bennett) and Shado (Celina Jade) are locked in a life-or-death struggle against Fyers as his missiles lock on a full Ferris Air jetliner.
Check out two more first look photos from "Sacrifice" below:
Arrow airs on Wednesdays at 8 PM ET/PT on The CW.
Reporting by Leanne Aguilera
Follow Leanne on Twitter: @leanneaguileraFollow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
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Any Arrow episode that opens with a nice shot of a shirtless Diggle is a successful episode in my mind. I mean, come on: those arms!
Sorry, I made myself a promise that for these last four episodes of Arrow Season 1 I would try to curb my gushing over the physical traits of Stephen Amell and David Ramsey and really any other guy on Arrow that make me drool and instead focus on the story, because gear up – it’s about to get really good.
Diggle and Oliver were training in the Arrow Lair, working on Diggle’s strength while biding time until Floyd Lawton – aka Deadshot – made his way back into the country so they could hunt him down for good. Too bad while they were training, Deadshot found his way into the states. Thanks to Felicity hacking ARGUS’s communication logs, the hunt for Deadshot is now afoot! Diggle lost his connection to ARGUS, however, since Lyla decided to do a little digging and found out why Diggle was so interested in Deadshot. Lyla wants to bring Deadshot to justice, but Diggle just wants him in a body bag. Something tells me one person in this equation will not be happy with the outcome, and when Lyla threatens to put Diggle in handcuffs we learn she means business.
Meanwhile, Oliver and Laurel have apparently mended their friendship enough to plan a lunch date, which she promptly cancels since work got crazy. Even though the lunch didn’t actually happen, I’m assuming Tommy won’t like that there were lunch plans at all now that he knows Oliver is the vigilante and Laurel and the vigilante have a working relationship. But so far, Tommy’s keeping his cool and telling Laurel he and Oliver are fine, and he only quit their club because the opportunity to work with his father was just too good to pass up.
Laurel canceled her lunch plans with Ollie to help a family who invested all their savings with a man named Edward Rasmus, who promptly stole it all. I wonder if Rasmus is on The List?
If Rasmus wasn’t on The List before, he sure is now. He hired a Gunn – ahem, I’m sorry, a hired gun (aka J. August Richards, or Gunn on Angel) to kill the family making a case against him. The parents were taken care of quickly but the boy, Taylor, got away out the window after getting a glimpse at his would-be assassin, Mr. Blank.
I have to break my promise already. You guys, Oliver, in a towel, dripping wet, post-shower. This show is killing me. Okay, resume recap! Oliver caught the news about the murdered parents that he had just met the other day, and with that, Edward Rasmus has just earned his spot on The List.
Since the boy’s grandparents wouldn’t be able to come get him for a few days, Laurel decided she would be his temporary guardian until they arrived. Oliver chose the wrong moment to come down and check on Laurel, since Tommy didn’t realize he even knew Laurel’s clients. With the realization that Laurel was planning lunches with Oliver and not telling Tommy, Tommy is starting to look a little peeved at their budding friendship. Trouble in paradise?
Back in the Arrow Lair, Team Arrow finalizes their plans for taking down Deadshot. ARGUS set up a sting operation to arrest Deadshot, but Diggle lets Oliver know he doesn’t want to see Deadshot arrested… and with that, Oliver makes the decision to cross Floyd Lawton’s name off of Diggle’s List.
While Det. Lance is gearing up to help protect Laurel’s home, Roy Harper shows up, but this time he’s at the police station of his own volition. He’s looking for the Hood, and figured he could get some advice from Det. Lance? Nope, turns out he just wanted to steal Lance’s radio!
Who would have thought the guy with the biggest daddy (and mommy) issues would turn out to be the greatest father material? While babysitting the newly-orphaned kid at Laurel's, Tommy proved to everyone that he is going to be such a good dad in the future, talking him through his grief over losing his parents.
This tender moment was so rudely interrupted when Mr. Blank showed up, and thanks a mistake on his fake badge, Laurel knew not to let him in. However, next time make sure your gun’s fully loaded, Laurel! One shot is not enough to take down a highly skilled assassin. Thankfully, the Hood came to the rescue and scared off Mr. Blank. Det. Lance wanted to place all three of them into protective custody, but Tommy understands that the safest chance for Laurel and Taylor to stay alive is close to Oliver, but only grudgingly and he doesn’t reveal the real reason why Oliver is able to protect them the best. Let the world’s most awkward slumber party at the Queen's estate begin!
Thea and Roy’s super cute date is interrupted when the police radio he stole from Det. Lance starts going off with reports of vigilante sightings, and he speeds off on his motorcycle to try and find the Hood. Too bad that Lance set the whole thing up to catch Roy, and he brought him in to the station in the back of a police car. Nice try, Roy.
Just when Oliver was about to go and take out Deadshot, one of Felicity’s alerts on Rasmus started pinging. The embezzler was going to run and booked a ticket to China (the benefits: wontons and no extradition treaty). So now Ollie had to choose: Deadshot or Rasmus. He had only one shot at either, but not both. What’s he going to choose? His loyalty to Diggle, or his newfound friendship with Laurel?
Oliver chose Rasmus! But what does that mean for Diggle and Deadshot? During the ARGUS operation, after a false alarm, Diggle and Lyla find out the hard way that Deadshot didn’t take the bait. Deadshot killed four ARGUS agents, and when Diggle went after him, the only reason Deadshot didn’t kill him was because no one was paying him. That’s quite an interesting philosophy to have but Diggle doesn’t care about Deadshot’s philosophy. He’s pissed Oliver wasn’t there to have his back like a real partner would. Diggle correctly assumed that Oliver made a choice: Laurel, instead of his partner. Clearly, Diggle abides by the Bro’s Before Ho’s life philosophy, while Oliver puts his lady friends in higher priority.
Rasmus ended up confessing his crimes to the police – he really had no choice in the matter – so Laurel, Taylor, and Tommy are free to go home, but they decide to stay the rest of the night at the Queens anyway. It’s a good thing they did, since Mr. Blank kills Rasmus and plans on killing Taylor since they’ve seen his face.
While Rasmus was getting murdered in the room next to him, Det. Lance tried to scare straight Roy and Thea with the corpse of a guy the vigilante killed, and we also learn the police have recovered 26 bodies from the vigilante’s one-man war on crime. Is this the actual number of bodies Oliver has killed since returning from the island, or just what the police have discovered? Because in all honestly, 26 seems kind of low. Unfortunately for Lance, his tactics don’t work and Thea agrees to help Roy find the Hood so Roy can make something of his life like the vigilante did.
Ollie and Laurel have a moment outside Taylor’s door since they think they’re out of danger. Laurel confides in Oliver, admitting she actually does see the changes in Ollie since he got back from the island. During an ill-timed hug, Tommy overhears and oversees the moment. Ouch, poor Tommy is having a terrible day: he had to admit his ex-best friend is the safest bet for his girlfriend, he had to hide with Taylor while Oliver scared off Mr. Blank, and then Laurel wanted to stay at Oliver’s even after the danger passed. I’m not sure Tommy will be able to take much more pain.
Time to put all the feelings on hold: Mr. Blank arrived at the Queen estate. Even though he loves the interior design of the house – such pain, loss, and regret in the wood paneling – he doesn’t hesitate to start shooting up the place, killing two guards before finding Oliver.
After an amazing fight scene – where you got to see Oliver Queen’s real, unrestricted, unmasked face in one of those rare moments where he doesn’t hide his true self – Oliver kills Mr. Blank with a fire poker and blames it on the security guard who Mr. Blank shot. Tommy backs up his statement to the police, but during a conversation with Oliver after, he realized that if Laurel ever knew the truth about Oliver she would choose him over Tommy. This leads Tommy to make what he probably thinks is a good, mature decision, but in hindsight is only going to speed up his downfall and descent into darkness: he broke up with her!
And as if Arrow wasn’t already breaking my heart enough, Diggle decides to rip it open even further and quit Team Arrow! I don't even know how to process all of these depressing turns.
And in this week’s island storyline of the week, Shado attempted to teach Ollie how to shoot a bow and arrow. There was sexual tension galore, and Slade was clearly jealous. There’s even a quick island makeout between Ollie and Shado! But he broke it off before it went anywhere else because of Laurel. And just when we thought Team Island was making progress into getting off the island, Yao Fei lead Fyers’ men to the airplane hideout!
Did Yao Fei really sell out Team Island? Did Diggle really quit Team Arrow? Will Tommy really go to the dark side with his father? We'll find out next week, but until then, enjoy some of the best quotes from tonight's "Home Invasion:"
Oliver: Feeling better?Diggle: I’ll feel better once we end Deadshot.
Felicity: I decrypted their communication logs. Which means I just hacked a federal agency. Which kind of makes me a cyber terrorist, which is bad because I really don’t see myself fitting in at Guantanamo Bay.Oliver: Don’t worry, Felicity, they don’t send blondes there.Felicity: I dye it, actually. I keep your secret!
Oliver: I wear a hood and I put arrows into criminals. So when it comes to complexity, I grade on a curve.
Det. Lance: You look after them, all right?Tommy: I spend most nights at your daughter’s anyways. There was probably a better time to tell you that.Det. Lance: Probably not.
Thea: Do you have a police radio in your pocket?Roy: No I’m just happy to see you.
Felicity: So you’re sniping a sniper. Kind of ironic, don’t you think? Yeah, me neither.
Follow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
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In 1991, Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for his brief, but memorable role as Hannibal Lecter. Hopkins' disappearance behind the shroud of the cannibalistic doctor's psychotic charm turned author Thomas Harris' character into a Hollywood brand. The previous iteration of the character — 1986's Manhunter — would be ignored. Hopkins owned the character now, and would reappear in Hannibal, the prequel Red Dragon, and pass the torch to Gaspard Ulliel for the prequel origin story Hannibal Rising.
In a surprise to no one, multiple attempts have been made to bring Dr. Lecter to the small screen, with one finally having slashed its way into existence. Tonight begins NBC's Hannibal, which recounts the action back before Lecter was locked up, muzzled with his iconic jaw guard. In this version, Special Agent Will Graham (previously played by William Petersen in Manhunter and Ed Norton in Red Dragon) is once again investigating grisly murders, pulled from his classroom safehaven to solve crimes that require his unhinged brain, capable of recreation and full immersion. His boss, Jack Crawford, is in desperate need of Graham's intellect, but he knows his frail recruit could snap at any minute. So he hires a psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to keep tabs on him.
Hannibal preys on our expectations of the franchise, finding new motivations and arcs for familiar characters that keep us looking for clues. Creator Bryan Fuller is as calculated as his diabolical character when setting up threads for the show: there are mysteries immediate and gestating, all presented with stylish, down-right-frightening imagery.
Is NBC's latest hour-long for you? Here's the real skinny on Hannibal:
Actors you'll know: Hugh Dancy (The Jane Austen Book Club, Martha Marcy May Marlene), stars as Will Graham, Laurence Fishburne jumps from CSI to costar as Crawford, and Casino Royale villain Mads Mikkelsen slips into the role of Lecter, bringing a new dimension to the character. His Hannibal the Cannibal (who we won't see doing much murdering in the early episodes of the series), is a bit of a playboy in Hannibal: cunning, suave, and handsome. The perfect cover-up.
5 Reasons You Might Want to Watch: If you're a fan of Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal modernizes the movie's sparse look and procedural structure — mostly because it's been overdone by other television shows. It feels right, more cinematic than any of NBC (or other networks) stabs at the same experiment. Plus: Mikkelsen is creepy as all hell, Dancy finds his own way to leave our heads spinning, and gasping every five seconds at what new murder has been committed is part of the fun. And a Shining reference in the first episode! Nice touch.
5 Reasons You Might NOT Want to Watch:Blood. Guts. Blood and Guts. A slightly annoying ensemble cast who offer quips in-between the slow burn drama. So much blood (then again, if that's your thing, this is a positive!).
Love it or Leave it? Hannibal is one of the boldest network shows I've ever seen. And not only in terms of gore (of which there is an amazing amount). TV is often cited as a writer's medium, but in a rare instance, Hannibal feels like a director's show. David Slade (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night) helmed the pilot and it's slick and unsettlingly composed. The style of putting us in Graham's mind never feels like a gimmick, slipping in and out without warning, leaving us on edge from beginning to end. It's a freaky show, and looking ahead, it gets freakier. Stick with this one.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: NBC]
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All right, by show of hands, who else totally thought McKenna Hall wasn’t making it out of tonight’s Arrow alive? Yeah, I was one hundred percent convinced tonight would be the last we saw Oliver’s cop girlfriend. I was right, of course, but not in the way I thought. Here’s my thought process: Oliver and McKenna were happy, and they were making their relationship work. They’d been going out for two months now, slept together, and really worked as a couple – despite McKenna’s being on the task force hunting Oliver’s secret identity, of course. But they were doing good! So, natch, things were about to get ugly.
But let’s back up a bit. First of all, I could hardly contain my glee when the previously on segment started. It’s been too long without a new Arrow for my liking, so I am so amped that we are about to get seven weeks straight of all-new episodes, kicking it off tonight with “The Huntress Returns.” There was a severe lack of salmon ladder for my taste, though. Other than that, tonight’s Arrow was stellar (check out my post mortem with the cast and producers here).
The title doesn’t lie: Helena Bertinelli is back, and she’s still on the warpath to find and kill her father (who, if you don’t remember, killed her fiancé). Since she’s been having difficulty getting to him in prison, she’s been killing off his employees to try to find a way to get to him. Thanks to her father’s attorney (RIP dude who I didn’t even bother to remember your name! Sorry ‘bout it!), she figured out a chance to kill him: take him out during his transfer from prison to witness protection. This would be her one and only chance to get to him, since he cut a deal and was giving up names to disappear into witness protection for the rest of his life.
She couldn’t do this alone, though, so she turned to the only other person she knew who could help her: her ex, Oliver. When her feminine wiles didn’t convince him to help her kill her father, she relied on the next best thing: threatening his family. Baaaaad move, honey. The pure rage on Oliver’s face should have been warning enough to turn tail and run.
RELATED: 'Arrow' Recap: Tommy Finds Out Oliver's Secret Identity!
But before he could deal with Helena, Oliver had to focus on the opening of his nightclub. That’s right, Verdant is live! Kicking off the debut, Oliver got electronic dance music superstar Steve Aoki to play – since apparently Oliver dated his sister back in the day, ha! – but Oliver still hasn’t gotten the chance to talk with Tommy since he found out Oliver was the vigilante. Oliver seems happy that he can finally explain how and why he does what he does, but Tommy is having none of it. Not only can he not forgive Oliver lying to him, but the fact that he’s a murderer just isn’t flying. Tommy may be a playboy, a rich kid who only recently had to grow up and learn responsibility, but he’s a truly good person. Any explanation won’t matter to Tommy: “What’s the point? I wouldn’t believe a word of it anyway.” Ouch. This friendship is not in a good place.
They put their differences aside for the opening of Verdant, though, and damn did they do a good job! That is one club I’d definitely frequent. Aoki’s killing it, Oliver’s family and girlfriend are all in attendance to show support, Moira is wondering what the hell kind of music is playing, Thea is drinking underage… it’s a party!
So of course Helena decides to push Oliver even further by crashing the party and taking Tommy hostage in the secret Team Arrow lair underneath Verdant (surprise, Tommy! More secrets right underneath your nose!) and threatening to break his arm unless Oliver agreed to help her. This is where I truly felt bad for Tommy. The poor guy has never had to endure any real physical work or pain in his life, and he was in agony. When Helena finally let him go after Oliver agreed to help her, he just curled in a ball in pain. He’s only known Ollie’s secret for a short time and immediately he’s in danger.
Now that Oliver reluctantly is helping Helena find and kill her father, they agree to catching him on the road, but there are two identical vans leaving the safe house – one’s a decoy. Oliver’s van was the decoy, and Helena is triumphant when she stops her van, but it turns out it was a police setup! She is pissed, and no doubt thinks Oliver set her up.
Just when we thought Helena was going to give up Oliver’s name to the police, she just goads McKenna and Det. Lance until Oliver stages a rescue and gets her out of the police station. He thinks he’s convinced her to leave town, but unfortunately for Felicity Smoake, that’s not the case. Helena threatens Felicity until she hacks into the FBI database and gives Helena her father’s location.
When Felicity called Diggle and Oliver after Helena left, they came racing over (though after Oliver got some sexytime in with McKenna), and I absolutely loved how protective they are of her. They both rushed in, weapons blazing, eyes wide to save her. That literally warmed my heart and made me smile. They really care about her!
RELATED: 'Arrow' Recap: Welcome, Roy Harper!
Oliver knows now that the only way to stop Helena is to kill her. He rushes over to Helena’s father’s safe house, and stops her from killing him. He shoots an arrow at her, and if she hadn’t jumped out of the way so fast she would have died. That’s when she realizes Oliver means business, and all bets are off. They fight, and Oliver gains the upper hand. But before he can get off another shot, McKenna bursts onto the scene, and this is when I knew something bad was going to happen. Helena grabs a gun and shoots McKenna!
I thought McKenna was dead, but turns out Helena only shot her femur. She’s still alive, but her leg will take a year to recover with intense physical therapy. She’s moving to Coast City to live with her sister in the meantime, since Coast City apparently has the best physical therapy program. Oliver wants to do long distance but McKenna is done. She breaks up with Oliver, and that is the last we’ll see of McKenna Hall. I’m sad to see her go, since she really brought light into Ollie’s dark life, but at least she made it out alive! Silver lining.
Another semi-good thing to come out of tonight’s episode is that Tommy is starting to understand Oliver a little better. After lying to Laurel all episode about why he was acting so distant (and why his arm was in a cast after his run-in with The Huntress), he gained some insight into how hard Oliver’s double life truly is. Tommy is ready to listen to Oliver, but he doesn’t like or agree with what Oliver is saying. Oliver knows he’ll never be happy if he’s alone, but he thinks his happiness isn’t what’s important right now. We don’t agree with that, Ollie! All we want is to see you smile!
Meanwhile, Thea tried to get her friend Roy Harper a valet job at Verdant, but I agree with Roy: giving him the keys to stranger’s nice cars is maybe not the greatest idea. I mean, Thea did meet him after he tried to steal her purse, so… there’s that. But she gets Tommy to hire Roy anyway and is bummed when he doesn’t show up for his first day. When she goes to The Glades to confront him, she gets mugged and Roy saves her! This boy has got some serious moves. I think we might be seeing a little preview of his journey, since in the comics, Roy Harper is the Green Arrow’s sidekick. Another preview we may have seen: since Roy got stabbed, Thea took him to the hospital to get stitches and he freaked out when he saw a needle. In the comics, Roy Harper suffered through a major heroin addiction. Uh oh… In the meantime, Thea distracted him from the big, scary needle with a hot, surprising kiss. That would certainly take his mind off it!
The Lances were having their own family drama tonight as well. Dinah Lance was still around after dropping her bombshell at the end of “Dead to Rights” – you know, that Laurel’s sister Sarah was still alive – and Laurel and Dinah ambushed Det. Lance with that story. I felt so bad for him in this scene. He had just spent two months getting the silent treatment from his daughter, and he thought she wanted to meet to forgive him. He apologized for using Laurel to get to the vigilante, and you could tell he was speaking from his heart. He truly meant what he said and really missed his daughter. But when his ex-wife came out of nowhere and he found out the real reason why they were there, he was just heartbroken. He didn’t want to live through losing his daughter yet again. He didn’t want to get up hope. They don’t even have any real proof, just an idea that Sarah could have been marooned on another island like Oliver was, plus a picture with the face obscured that a tourist took. Not much to go on, but Det. Lance relented by the end of the episode. The Lances are going to search for Sarah.
RELATED: 'Arrow' Recap: Nothing is Bred That is Weaker Than Man
And in this week’s island flashbacks, Oliver began to truly impress Slade Wilson with his ideas and bravery. They decide to blow up the big missile launcher that Fyres has to prevent a war, but Oliver gets an idea to steal the launcher’s circuit board instead. That way, the launcher won’t work, and they can negotiate a trade: the circuit board for a way off the island. It will be interesting to see how this plays out (and when we'll meet our newest island ally) but I am definitely enjoying watching Oliver grow a spine and start to become the Arrow we know now.
The best quotes from tonight's “The Huntress Returns:”
Det. Lance: “You are quite the hunter, Ms. Bertinelli. Well, I guess I should make that ‘huntress.’”
Slade, about the missile launcher: “We need to find out what Fyres is planning.”Oliver: “Wild guess? He’s planning on blowing something up.”
Det. Lance, about The Huntress: “I’m busy. The Hood’s girlfriend’s back.”
Server at Verdant, just as Oliver was about to join McKenna on the dance floor: “Sorry to bother you, Mr. Queen.”Oliver: “You’re timing’s perfect, I can’t dance.”
Diggle, about Oliver killing The Huntress: “I think you would’ve killed her a long time ago if she looked like me instead of the T Mobile girl.”
Follow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: The CW]
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The long wait for a new episode of Arrow? Totally worth it — thanks to tonight's explosive, crazy, action-packed installment, "The Huntress Returns." We’ve got six more episodes left of the wildly-successful Season 1, and if you thought the action was going to slow down, you clearly don’t watch enough Arrow.
"It's all going to come to a head," executive producer Andrew Kreisberg promises Hollywood.com. "Everything that you could want to happen and everything you think couldn’t possibly happen is going to happen. We just pitched it to the studio and the network and they’re still trying to pick their jaws up off the floor." As if we weren't already incredibly excited about the last third of Season 1.
In order to prepare for what is sure to be an epic ending to the freshman season, we spoke to the cast and producers about what to expect in the next six episodes. Here's what is on deck for Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Team Arrow, and all our favorite Starling City residents as we gear up for a shocking season finale:
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Tommy’s In TroubleEver since Tommy (Colin Donnell) learned the truth about both his best friend and his father, he’s struggled with this new knowledge, and that won’t end anytime soon. "He’s not doing so well, honestly. Everything’s been thrown into total turmoil for him," Donnell tells Hollywood.com. "You can see the strain on the relationship between Oliver and Tommy. It puts everything into question for him."
Knowing Oliver’s secret also creates some trouble in paradise for Tommy and Laurel’s relationship, which we began to see in tonight's episode. "It doesn't make his relationship with Laurel any easier, and the fact is it wasn't terribly easy to begin with," Donnell states. "We saw from her side that interacting with the vigilante and keeping it a secret from me already placed this strain on our relationship, and now there's another big secret. They've had such an open, very adult, honest relationship and now there’s a huge secret that has to be kept. And that's not good."
Aside from his relationship with Laurel, Tommy’s friendship with Oliver is also in a very bad place. "Oliver is a killer now which, obviously, that's an issue for Tommy. Part of the strain that is on the relationship is because of what Oliver has become," Donnell explains. "But it's equal parts feeling betrayed as a friend and a brother and a confidante. Oliver was the one person that Tommy always went to for advice. Tommy always thought that Oliver would be there for him, and all of a sudden that’s not the case."
And to find out that not only is your best friend a killer, but also your father? That would certainly throw a wrench into Tommy's newly-mended relationship with father Malcolm (John Barrowman) … or so one would think. "Tommy's pretty good at forgetting that people kill in front of him. The fact that there is a relationship again between Tommy and Malcolm kind of overshadows the fact that he saw his father doing what he did," Donnell says. "He's so consumed by almost losing his father, having him come back to life, and having him come back into his life. It is such a huge, good thing that it sort of overshadows what he saw Malcolm do."
RELATED: 'Arrow': Stephen Amell Reveals the Aftermath of Tommy Finding Out Oliver's Secret
Malcolm’s Mysterious MentorWe haven’t heard much about Malcolm Merlyn's years in Nanda Parbot — outside of the fact that he left after his wife's murder, learned how to fight from a mysterious mentor, and returned cold and distant towards his son. This sounded suspiciously like Yao Fei's mentorship to Oliver on the island, but when I brought up my hypothesis to executive producer Marc Guggenheim he – very gently but officially – shot it down.
"We made a concrete decision in the first year not to tie the island mythology in with the present day mythology. We felt like that would be a little too coincidental," Guggenheim explains. "It's a good pitch, but no. The person who trained Malcolm, [the executive producers] know who that is, but you haven't met them yet. And you may not meet them for the first two seasons of the show."
While he didn't give away much in terms of spoilers, Guggenheim did reveal if/when we will learn more about the identity of Malcolm's mentor and his years in Nanda Parbot. "It will be an ongoing mystery as to what happened in Nanda Parbot with Malcolm. We want to continue to delve into Malcolm's back story because I think people are interested in it and John Barrowman is a wonderful actor," Guggenheim says. "So assuming Malcolm survives Season one, we'll continue to explore what happened to him during those two years."
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Dark Days Ahead (and Behind) For DiggleDiggle (David Ramsey) may be the moral center of Team Arrow, but all that is about to change, thanks to the realization that Deadshot, aka the man who killed Diggle’s brother, is still alive. "Diggle is going to get on a blood quest. We haven't really seen Diggle like this before," Ramsey tells Hollywood.com. "Up until now Diggle has been the voice of reason and the moral authority, and he's been leading the hero to have a greater sense of morality in terms of killing. But all of that goes out the door for Diggle when he learns that Deadshot’s alive. He has to hear his own words regurgitated to him, in terms of is he making the right choices, is he making the right decision, et cetera. And there will be collateral damage for that quest."
Along with his darker future, we will also learn some shocking things about Diggle's past. "You're going to see some of his other past come up and Diggle isn't as straight and clean as we all think," Ramsey reveals. "There's a history there and we’re going to see some of it."
More Slade WilsonA huge congratulations is in order for the newly-promoted series regular Manu Bennett as island badass Slade Wilson. Bennett's news joins the already announced series regular promotions of Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoake and Colton Haynes as Roy Harper. Clearly, the Arrow bosses listen to what the fans want, because we just can't get enough of Slade, Felicity, and Roy!
Follow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: Jack Rowand/The CW]
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Arrow fans are having the best week ever. Following the drama's early Season 2 renewal comes the even better news that fan favorite character Felicity Smoake – Oliver Queen's quirky, go-to I.T. girl – will be around a lot more next season. That's right, Emily Bett Rickards has been promoted to series regular for Season 2.
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But wait — there's more! Check out this extended, two-minute-long cinematic trailer The CW just released for the next few episodes of the action-packed show. Is that Oliver (Stephen Amell) in bed with Laurel Lance (Katie Cassidy) — or just another flashback? Is Slade Wilson (Manu Bennett) training Oliver on the island — or fighting him? Are we finally going to see Oliver's transformation into Arrow on the island? And why is Diggle (David Ramsey) using a defibrillator on Oliver? We also get our first (fleeting) glimpse of Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), Thea's (Willa Holland) new love interest.
RELATED: 'Arrow' Recap: One Mother of a Betrayal
Watch Arrow Wednesdays at 8 PM ET/PT on The CW.
Follow Sydney on Twitter: @SydneyBucksbaum
[Photo Credit: The CW]
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It’s about time! After weeks of inching closer and closer to the truth only to be misdirected each time, Oliver finally realized his mother Moira was hiding something shady and took matters into his own hands tonight on Arrow. On came the hood, up came the bow and arrow, and out came the words, “Moira Queen, you have failed this city!” That’s right, Oliver targeted his mom to get to the bottom of her lies.
You see, after Felicity gave Oliver The List that Walter had, Oliver was still in denial that his mother had anything to do with the low lives and corrupt business people that he dedicated his life to taking down. Diggle didn’t have the same blinders on, though, and worked his hardest to prove to Oliver that Moira was lying. That involved tailing Moira, under the guise of being her driver. He happened to catch a bit of her conversation with Malcolm Merlyn about “the undertaking,” as well as that the Queen’s Gambit was sabotaged. Diggle played the recorded conversation for Oliver who knew the only way to figure out what “the undertaking” is was to confront her, hood and all.
But while all this family drama was happening, another woman close to Oliver was getting into a bit of trouble. Laurel was trying to put a just-released murderer, Cyrus Vanch (welcome to the Arrow universe, David Anders!), back into prison, but since he got off on a technicality, she needed to work outside the law to find enough evidence to put him away for good. Good thing she has that phone to contact the Hood! You remember, the phone Det. Lance bugged so he can eavesdrop on every call! Not creepy at all, right?
Because she was playing Maid Marion to Robin Hood, Det. Lance and his task force were able to crash Laurel and Arrow’s meeting. This didn’t accomplish anything besides Arrow giving Det. Lance quite a head shot and pissing off Laurel once she figured out her dad betrayed her.
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Arrow was still able to glean enough information from Laurel that she needed evidence that Cyrus Vanch was doing something – anything! – illegal so he paid the criminal a house call. Thanks to a handy recording device on an arrow, Oliver was able to get a recorded confession from Vanch that he was interested in filling the current power vacuum of Starling City since both the Triad and the Bertinelli group are still leaderless. Boom: evidence.
Unfortunately that arrow recording device was discovered by Vanch, who realized that taking down the hooded vigilante was the best way to gain respect among the criminal community. Turns out, Vanch also has a mole on Det. Lance’s task force, so he knew that Laurel was the way to get to Arrow. Some goons showed up at her apartment, and I have to be honest, here: I totally forgot that Laurel could fight! She was totally holding her own there until Vanch stepped in with a taser (cheater...).
Oliver knew he couldn’t take Vanch’s veritable fortified castle on his own, so he teamed up with the most unlikely ally: Det. Lance. Both men knew they had to put their differences aside to save the woman they both loved. And of course Tommy just sat around moping (at least he knows he’s got competition from Arrow for Laurel’s heart!).
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I got such a kick out of how much Vanch underestimated Arrow. The way the camera kept comically cutting between Vanch’s explanation of how there was no way Arrow could get past all the men he had stationed around the house, no way he could get past the sharpshooters on the roof, no way he could get into the house at all, and Arrow just being his regular badass self taking out every obstacle in his way like it was no big deal was all kinds of perfect. Vanch thought he finally had Arrow right where he wanted him when Det. Lance came in guns blazing. I think we saw a little bit of understanding from Det. Lance of Arrow, because for a second, he wanted to kill Vanch, regardless of the trouble he would get in from police. That’s exactly what Arrow does, because he’s not held back by the law. Could we be seeing a thaw in the ice that surrounds Det. Lance?
After Vanch was put away, Arrow approached Laurel and basically told her he couldn’t risk her life again, and that this was goodbye for them. We’ll see just how long that lasts, though. Oliver can’t stay away from Laurel, and Laurel can’t stay away from Arrow.
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And in this week’s island flashback, we see Oliver has followed Yao Fei’s map to… whoa, is that the plane from LOST? In the wreckage, we meet Slade Wilson (welcome to the Arrow universe, Manu Bennett!), who we all thought was Deathstroke, the guy who tortured Oliver – seeing as how he has the same face mask Deathstroke always wears – but it turns out Slade had a partner with the same mask. Slade and his partner are Australian Secret Intelligence, on the island to rescue Yao Fei, but Yao Fei was compromised. Now Slade will be Oliver’s mentor, training him to fight so they can take the airstrip together and get off the island.
Now, we know that Oliver doesn’t get off the island for five years, and he was alone when he was rescued. How did he get from working with Slade to get off the island to being all alone? There’s clearly a lot more to this story that we're going to see.
[Photo Credit: Jack Rowand/The CW]
Follow Sydney on Twitter @SydneyBucksbaum
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Has it really been only 9 episodes? With its genius writing, compelling story, complex characters, best use of a mysterious island since Lost, and passionate fan base, it seems as if The CW's fall superstar, Arrow, has been on the air for many seasons. It is without a doubt the winner out of all the new shows, both in ratings and critical response. Ever since The CW lost its superhero origin story Smallville after 10 seasons, the need for an interesting, intelligent look at how a normal person becomes a hero has grown, and Arrow has finally filled that role. Before Arrow returns tonight with the first new episode of 2013, let's take a look at the wildly successful first 9 episodes and catch up on all things Oliver Queen.
Where we left off: Oliver got the absolute s**t kicked out of him by the Dark Archer — who was revealed to be Malcolm Merlyn, Tommy’s father — and found himself waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by his family. Thanks to Diggle’s quick thinking, Moira, Walter, and Thea think he crashed his motorcycle so his secret is still that: a secret from his family (and from Malcolm, since he never got the chance to see Arrow’s face). Walter found out about The List thanks to quirky, clever IT girl Felicity, and that led to Moira/Malcolm having him drugged and kidnapped. Laurel and Tommy are dating for real, and Tommy’s been cut off from his funds, making him – gasp! – poor. Det. Lance slightly got over his prejudice of Arrow and actually teamed up with him to try and take down the Dark Archer. And thanks to the Dark Archer, Oliver found out that his father wasn’t the creator of The List… meaning that someone else is actually to blame for the corruption of Starling City, completely changing Oliver's target and his overall mission.
Biggest Jaw-Dropper of the fall: The reveal of the Dark Archer as Malcolm Merlyn (we were sure it was going to be Tommy, even though it makes more sense as Malcolm since he’s already been established as evil).
Biggest Let-Down of the fall: Oliver needs to get more action — and we don’t mean the fist-fighting kind! Sure, he got with the Huntress… but we didn’t actually see any of it. One makeout, then a cut to the next morning. If The Vampire Diaries can show hot vamp sex all the time, why can’t we get human sex on Arrow? Really, anything to see more of Stephen Amell naked will do.
Most Improved Character: Tommy has already matured so much, both in his relationship with Laurel and in wanting to make an honest living (well, that wasn’t a choice so much as a necessity after being cut off).
Least Improved Character: Thea. Enough whining! Give this girl some substance (and we don’t mean drugs… or do we? Her nickname is Speedy after all…)!
5 Reasons You Should Keep Watching: 1. We are about to meet Seth Gabel’s villain, The Count, who is a street thug slash drug kingpin pushing a new drug on Starling City, and this is one villain Arrow can’t knock down easily. “The Count is definitely willing to be cheap, and not very honorable in his battle tactics,” Gabel told Hollywood.com. “He welcomes the challenge of the Arrow character, and is not afraid of that conflict. [He] actually welcomes that opportunity to prove that [he is] greater [than Arrow].” 2. We haven’t seen the last of the Huntress, Oliver’s revenge-obsessed ex. “She’s going to come back,” said executive producer Greg Berlanti at TCA. “We like to think of her as the crazy ex-girlfriend.” 3. David Anders will be playing a character that is completely new, created just for the show. Anders’ Cyrus Vanch is a villain with no conscience, making him absolutely ruthless. 4. Spartacus' Manu Bennett will take on the role of Slade Wilson, who will become Deathstroke, the menacing, violent masked man who tortured Oliver on the island. 5. Colton Haynes will play Roy Harper, who is known in the DC comics franchise as Speedy. Wait… isn’t that Thea’s nickname on the show? Coincidence… we think not. Thea meets Roy – who is from the rough part of town—after he steals her purse, and he is a potential love interest for her.
What we ultimately want to see: Now that Arrow is widening his vision on what kind of vigilante he will be — sticking to taking down the names on The List vs. taking down all street crime — we want to see his evolution from the Hood to Arrow, and how that affects everyone around him. He also starts off the second half of the season in a major funk after getting knocked down by the Dark Archer, so seeing him pull himself back up and into the vigilante saddle is going to be very interesting. What will motivate him to get back out there? Plus, you know, more abs.
Arrow returns with “Burned” tonight at 8 PM ET/PT on the CW.
[Photo Credit: James Dittiger/The CW]
Follow Sydney on Twitter @SydneyBucksbaum
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It looks like even though it's only a few hours into preview night at 2012's San Diego Comic-Con, big details and exclusives are coming out of the woodwork right from the gate. No one is waiting around; the news onslaught has officially begun!
First up is Twentieth Century Fox, who announced--among other things--that the promising young director of Chronicle, Josh Trank has been offered the director's seat on their planned reboot of the Marvel series. The new film will feature an all-new cast: meaning say goodbye to the Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch and The Thing you know from the 2005 &amp; 2007 movies. Fresh direction means fresh blood. Apparently Trank has attached himself to several things, but this is the next one he's set to direct.
All is not about new hires, though, as the studio also announced the loss of their Daredevil director David Slade. No word on why he has dropped off the project.
And that's not all! Why not end on a high note, shall we? Fox also announced that Joe Cornish (from Attack The Block) will direct the Royden Lepp novel-inspired Rust, about a struggling farm family and the robot that appears and changes everything. The family film is said to have an adventure/sci-fi slant to it.
All of this reboot talk seems interesting, but also a theme for the news already; do you want to see reboots of these films already? Sound off in the comments!
[Deadline]
Follow Alicia on Twitter @alicialutes
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